Day One
by The Dragon Knight
Summary: The World has Fallen, But not all is lost, Four friends from a Vault City, Head to parts unknown, Who and what will they find.
1. Day one The End

_AN: Ya. I'm back, Warrior is on Hold until I can continue this. Well… Enjoy my friends._

Day One… When the whole world went sideways. Things had been getting progressively worse and worse for years, decades really. Governments fell, economies crumbled. Military was the only capable rule. Martial Law for all, borders closed and chaos ruled.

Earth was quite simply, Hell. No one knew who fired first, but everyone knew what happened. Nuclear War, Judgment Day. Russia, China, Korea, Iran, and America peppered each other with weapons of gods.

Firestorms and Mushroom clouds, Flashes of light brighter than the sun, Fallout and Ash blanketed the earth. Fire turned to ice, and the world went cold. Few places were spared, Horrors walked the earth, and those that survived grew sick and died, the lucky ones anyway. Day One, The horror of Atomic War. Mankind's darkest hour, but not all was lost.

Around the world lay underground Cities named Vault Cities, those important or rich enough got a house, a sector, even blocks of land there. When fire bit the clouds, when poison blackened the oceans, when the very mountains crumbled they survived. For years they watched the world tear its self apart, when five billion souls left the earth in the blink of an eye, when the sick and dying pounded on the great doors, They turned away.

The world was dead, countries crumbled and blackened, and mankind blown to the great beyond. The doors closed, Never to be opened, Nothing last forever, but for two hundred years it remained so, Vaults thrived, People grew old an fat, and died happily, But it wasn't to last, Nothing not man not machine, Lasts for ever. Our story begins two hundred years after Day one, in the year 2220


	2. Day one The Journey Begins

Our story begins in an Iowan vault. Ten thousand people it held, no more. The vault was fully self sufficent, water, power, and food. If any failed, they all failed. Nothing last forever, not man, not machine. After nearly two hundred years of servace, things began to go wrong. It was subtle at first, some spoiled meat, a few scattered blackouts. But slowly got worse, people began to die, water went bad, whole sections of the vault went dark.

The vault was slowly killing those it was built to sustain. The decision was made to open the great door. People left in small teams, from two to ten. None who left ever returned. Did they find assilum? Or did they Join teh rest of mankind in the great hear after. No one knew, not untile it was their turn to leave.

Leaving a dying vault for Nuclear wasteland. Was it a blessing, or a curse? Well armed and armored each squad was sent out. All survivalest to the core, Vault three three three was built to last, its inhabitants even more so.

Our story is of the tenth squad, four friends with an unbreakable bond, None older than eighteen, none younger than fourteen. Two fighters, two thinkers, two girls, two boys.

Clare, A Fighter trained in the arts of close range combat, Jackson, a master marksman by the age of ten, Jeramy his twin, a medic of the best degree, and Alexia, a young grease monkey with a great talent.

Their Journy began one year after the Vault began to die, Their journy may never end, they may be the ones to come back, or they may fall prey to the dangers of this new and twisted world.

Let us begin with Clare. Clare at the age of eighteen and just over six foot two she is the oldest and largest of the group. She acts like a mother of sorts, caring but stern, loving, and an ever present force in the other's lives. She is a strong girl and prefers to fight hand to hand when all possible, at a young age she took up learning all she could about martial arts, quickly becoming a powerhouse by the age of ten. She soon was bored of beating the instructors and took up learning to use bladed weapons and is now a near master with any blade. Leader of the group she has final say but she respects her friend's decisions and tries to keep peace, but when things go south she is always the first to charge head first and take on whatever is threatening her friends. Being in front has thought her she would be the first to fall if someone were to outsmart, power, or flank them. It has hardened her but she is warm and motherly when they are alone.

Next comes Jackson, Older of the two twins. He has a very odd personality majorly affected by his mother medicating him for years for his ADHD. He can be joking and laughing with you one moment and ready for war the next. He is nearly always tanned from the Sun lights in the vault, but his right eye is very light, He spends nearly all his time training himself with a rifle. Able to be considered a crackshot by the age of twelve he has a very strong shoulder from thousands of hours of shooting. He is a kind man but violent when the need comes, some call him heartless but he just says it's the fastest route and usually he is right. Morality has little sway on his actions and he will likely kill you as save you if he deems you unable to be saved. His brother has to rein him in a lot to stop him from making decisions he will regret. At five foot five he is the second smallest but heavily built and strong.

Next is Alexia a true grease monkey. Small but smart and fast she can build anything she has seen given the time and the parts, a master at mechanics she looks out of place in the garages of the Vault but no one else can match her skill with a wrench, welder or any tool to be honest. She like all in their group has ADHD but was never medicated and is much calmer than Jackson, who she looks up to. She also has dyslexia but can still read extremely well. She is a pacifist to the core but knows that violence is sometimes the only answer. Her skin is permanently tanned from the welding flash of her own shop, and her hands hard from hours working. She has a soft face but she is not someone you want as an enemy, she has a caring personality but can turn cold in an instant. At fourteen and just under five foot tall she is the smallest and youngest of the group.

And finally comes Jeremy. Just minutes younger than Jackson, but much larger than his older brother, he is a loving and caring soul. He is loyal and trusting to a fault, which has gotten him into quite a bit of trouble. He is a person who would help a man who tried to kill him, and in fact has before. He is a medic a very capable one at that, he was a assistant to one of the vaults main doctors and has seen it all. He can remain extremely calm under pressure, and can calm even a storm his friends say. He can fix anything, from cuts to bones to busted organs. Anyone and anything he helps heals at an amazing rate, things that should take months to heal take weeks even days. At five foot eleven and just over two hundred pounds he is a giant among the group matched only by Clare. He is a big man with a heart of gold, hating violence more even than Alexia he tries to defuse anything Clare or Jackson start.

These four friends have been within one hundred yards of each other for their whole life, never separating for long. Growing up was not easy in the Vault but it was designed that way. With Clare as a sort of den mother. They got into and out for trouble for years and years, but when the vault began to die, and their mothers were forced to leave. They grew even closer, like each other's shadow. They were prepared for anything; they had food, armor, water, medicine, and weapons. When it was their turn to leave they did so with confidence, they knew they would never see the vault again, but hoped for the best and left with high heads, their story begins, when they decide to head east.


	3. Day One East

"Why East?" Alexia asked breaking the silence of the journey. Clare who was ahead of her small friend responded "Well the others went west and never returned." She said quietly. "O. okay" Alexia said grinning. It sounded good enough to her. And she had wanted to head east anyway.

"Funky clouds huh?" Jackson asked no one in particular. He was right they looked nothing like what they had in the old movies. Hey looked sickly, pale green's and yellow's. "Bet its from the bombs" HE said answering himself.

"After two hundred years?" Alexia asked surprised and jumped when Jackson put one arm around her shoulder and waved to the world with the other "Lex those bombs blew poison into space I'll bet they are still falling" he said motioning to the sky.

"This place is still pretty intact" Clare observed, And it was, Buildings still stood, but were crumbling from two centuries of neglect. "Its so creepy" She said looking around. As Jeremy walked to behind her "It's because nothing was worth wasting a bomb on" he said in the deep toned voice of his. After that they continued in silence nothing but falling buildings and green skies to keep them company. "What is that?" Alexia yelped. What she was looking at she first thought it to be a shadow until it moved. What could be best described as a Zombie charged Clare. Clare let out a yell and drove her heavy fist into the things head. Boones gave way with a gut wrenching crack as the thing fell into a heap in front of her.

"Clare you all right?" Jeremy asked running up to her, it had only been a few seconds between Alexia screaming and the thing hitting the ground. "I'm Fine Jeremy" Clare said shaking her hand to get the blood and molted flesh off of it. She motioned to the body on the ground "Him? Not so much" She untangled the arms and legs of the creature and stepped back in shock. "Jeremy check this out." She said

As Jeremy knelt down to check its pulse, Jackson was Holding Alexia back so she couldn't see the thing "Jackson let me go" she said struggling lightly "You don't want to see it" He said looking slightly green.

"Clare you killed the damn thing" Jeremy said after pulling his fingers back "But why is it cold? It should still be warm" He said confused "This is impossible. It Looks like what would happen to you if you survived a Nuclear Blast" He said standing up and examined Clare's hand "And it has soft bones. With the force you put into it it should of at least broken a knuckle" He said patting her hand. "Lets get out of here that thing gives me the creeps" He said and no one objected.


	4. Day one Dreams

_Another week, Another Chapter, Remember Reviews equal Love_

After the Zombie thing they were all on edge, jumpy. "Clare, I know your strong, but you caved that things face in…" Jeremy said quietly the memory burned into his brain.

"I Know, I know" Clare said looking at her hands, there was still a bit of blood on it, dried as it was it smelled oddly. Behind them Jackson was talking Alexia's ear off as Clare sighed "All right. Time to set up camp" She said dropping her bag on the dusty earth.

"Finally" Jackson said laughing falling back landing in a cloud of ash "Welcome to scenic Nuclear wasteland, Population us" He said looking around. "Clare… What the hell was that thing?" He finally asked. Jeremy sat down beside Jackson.

"No Clue Jackson, Alexia how are you holding up?" Clare asked worried about her friend, she opened her pack up and pulled out a sleeping bag and laid it out.

"I'm fine Clare" She said softly already messing with something she had in her pockets. "Just shaken up, that's all… Jackson put it away" Alexia muttered.

"Why?" He asked packing up the conversion kit for his rifle "Just wanted to make a bang before bed" He laughed putting the heavier bullets away.

"Jackson how are your ears?" Jeremy asked looking at his brother "You know you should ware plugs when you shoot." He muttered poking his brother and Jackson laughed. "What? Cant hear you" He teased.

"All right you two" Clare sighed she had one of her many knives out and was sharpening it. She looked at the Sky "So strange, The stars seem so bright." She whispered

"That's cause no lights are blocking them out" Jackson said laying on his back "Are we nuts?" He asked himself and Alexia stared at him "What? Honest question" He said

"I Sure hope not, but we will never know. Not till we die, or find what were looking for" Clare said.

"But what are we looking for?" Jackson pressed "I Mean sure, it sounds right to head east, But how far are we going?"  
>"Long island?" Alexia suggested "I Mean, maybe its still there. And its far enough east." She said not sure where the idea came from<p>

"Sure. And maybe we will see New York?" Jackson said "But hell. We have a destination so im happy" He said yawning "Who gets first watch? I'm not I need my beauty sleep" He laughed

"No lie there" Alexia said poking his side "I'll watch, But your taking next shift" She said sitting up.

"If you see anything yell" Clare said laying down putting her knife away. "Night all" She said

"Night" Alexia said killing her light and the camp fell into darkness.


	5. Day one Wake up Call

_Two in a week, On a Roll! Anyway Thanks for reading, Don't forget to review my friends_

Morning came all to soon For Clare. She had taken the last shift so she got the longest sleep, but the hardest shift, when most of the human mind tells you to sleep. Nothing had happened, just shadows moving in the darkness. She smiled looking at her sleeping friends, sleeping family. She had watched them all grow from children to the young adults they were now, she had guided them when she could, done her best to help them when their mothers were forced to leave. She yawned and gently shook Alexia "Time to wake up" She said softly

Alexia yawned sitting up with blurry eyes "Morning already?" She asked looking around, The sun was just rising, lighting up the sky. "It looks so pretty" Alexia whispered.

"It does." Clare said nodding "Hard to imagine were the only ones seeing it." She frowned "Naw. There are more people" She laughed. "You wanna wake up Jackson?" She asked Alexia.

"Not yet, Its peaceful now" She said looking at her sleeping friend "Besides he needs all the sleep he can get" She said.

Clare gently shook Jeremy "Jeremy it's time to get up" She said softly.

"To early" He groaned opening his eyes and sitting up "Jackson up yet?" He asked.

"Not…" Clare started looking at Jacksons empty sleeping bag. "BOO!" Jackson yelled behind Clare making her jump and spin around "Damnit Jackson" She said and he doubled over laughing.

"Jackson not funny." Alexia said "Not after yesterday" She said looking at Clare.

"I'm sorry Lexi" Jackson said patting her head "But hey, were all awake right?" He said looking around.

"Clare we leaving now? OR eating?" Jeremy asked packing up his sleeping bag. "Should get an early start, we have a long ways to go" He muttered.

"We can eat on the way" Clare said dusting her bag off "And yes, we have a Very long way, if we're lucky, there will be pockets of Humans…" She thought for a second "Settlements" She laughed.

Jackson groaned "Food now" He said simply and Clare threw a MRE at him "Friendly fire!" He yelled laughing "Thanks Clare… Bananas and Beef. Who comes up with these combinations?" He asked laughing

"Hell if I know" Clare muttered. "But it tastes good and keeps you full so I'm not complaining" She said helping Alexia fit her sleeping bag in her overfull pack "How do you get anything from here?" She asked and Alexia giggled.

"Where are we going?" Jackson asked zipping up his pack and checking his rifle.

"Chicago?" Jeremy asked "I mean. There might be people there. Though, it was a hell hole Before the war" He said to himself.

"Sounds good to me… Follow the Highways." Jackson said "This is the Captil of Iowa. So it should have a Highway running through it." He grabbed his Spotter scope "Like that one" He said looking at a Majorly big Highway "Superhighway they called it I thing" He muttered.

"Guess that's what we take." She grabbed the scope from Jackson "Cars are still on it… None will work but maybe Alexia can find some useful stuff?" She asked looking at her

"Sure I bet I could" She said nodding. "Like what though Clare?" She asked laughing

"Anything we could use, or trade if we find anyone" She said. Looking at the Highway again "Jackson come here. Get your rifle" She said

Jackson walked over holding his Rifle "What is it?" He asked looking down the scope at what Clare was looking at. "A Zombie thing?" He asked and Clare nodded. Jackson sighed ald laid down. He took a deep breath and Fired. The round was loud and sharp, like glass cracking but louder. Half a mile away, the round his the Zombies head erupting into a spray of blood and it fell "Hit" Jackson said

"Good shot." Clare said "Now lets go, We have a lot of ground to cover. She said as the group headed for the Highway


	6. Encounter

_Aye. Folks I have an idea. Contest time, Friend of mine says I need more Depth on the gang. I Agree. So I have a plan, You guys tell me what you think they did, and I'll build from there_

Miles apon miles of nothing but pavement and cement and cars.

Jackson whistled a song out of boredom. Alexia had managed to grab some old metals that might have been worth something. She was wearing a necklace made of keys that she figured she could melt down.

"Clare", Jeremy said looking at something. "Boot tracks."

They heard a clack a sound Jackson knew all to well. A man stood up from behind a car aiming a rifle at Clare. He was wearing some type of makeshift armor with bolts and cogs randomly welded to the shoulders.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" He asked laughing as two more men appeared by his side. The first looked like a dirtball with muscles, the other scrawny as a twig.

"Who are you?" Alexia asked in a shaky voice. She hid behind Clare.

The leader of them chuckled "Girls will fetch a nice price." He commented.

"After we have our way with them", the scrawny one snickered.

Clare balled her fists and Alexia backed away from her.

"Have your way?" She growled. "Have your way?"

"Clare, you can have the leader." Jackson said looking at the scrawny man instead. "I'd run. Seriously, last chance, dude."

The man with the rifle erupted into laughter.

"Oh?" was all he managed to say before Clare closed with him and hit him square in the face, staggering him. The rifle went flying.

[Be careful with paragraph breaks. You should start a new paragraph when either a new person speaks or the POV changes to a different person. Also keep the tactical situation in mind. Clare was at least 20 feet from the rifleman and you didn't mention them closing the distance, which it's reasonable to assume they would have done. – Ardwolf]

A sharp crack from Jackson's rifle and the scrawny thug fell, grabbing his arm and screaming. Clare turned to the muscled one but took a heavy handed blow to the gut from him, knocking the breath out of her.

She returned the favor by smashing both fists into his ribs, breaking at least two ribs and cracking two more. The man coughed and spat out blood.

"You're dead", he snarled.

Charging Clare was a mistake. The knife she'd drawn sank cleanly into his chest, slipping between his ribs. The man looked bewildered, then fell down and laid still.

The leader had recovered his rifle and backed away while Clare was busy with his thug.

"You're not going anywhere!" She growled turning on him. There was a loud bang and Clare staggered.

"CLARE!" Alexia screamed.

Clare looked at her chest then at the man, who looked horrified she was still on her feet. She charged him with a scream and tackled him, sending the rifle flying a second time.

"Have. Your. Way?" She hissed, driving her fist into his face with each word. Blood splattered her chest and face as bone shattered under the savage pounding. She kept hitting him for a very long time.

Finally the man went limp. Claire spat into the ruins of his face and climbed off him.

"Clare!" Jeremy yelled at her. She looked up, the bloodlust draining from her. She looked at Jeremy.

She looked like a butcher, her chest was covered in blood her face speckled.

"Clare are you ok?" Alexia asked looking at her fearfully.

"F...Fine Lexi. It's not my blood." She coughed, picking the bullet out of her armored vest. Then the reality of what she'd done hit her.

She'd just killed two men.

Tears came to her eyes, she wasn't sure why but it had hit her hard.

"Claire, time to go." Jackson said looking at the mangled corpse of what used to be the leader. Clare nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

As she stumbled away with Jeremy checking her over she could of sworn she heard "good job my daughter" whispered in her ear.


	7. Numb

Clare was numb, they had set up camp on the Highway hours ago, she had cleaned the blood off her clothes and her body, but she felt hollow.

"Clare, it's ok" Jackson said sitting beside her, Jeremy and Alexia were keeping their distance, knowing the two needed to talk.

"Jackson...I...I beat that man, into the _ground_." She said, shuddering. Jackson put his arm around her shoulders.

"And I blew a man's arm off, Clare." He said softly "You have to think, was it the right thing to do? That's why I'm...not as affected as you, Clare. I know there was no other option."

"Jackson...you...how are you?" She stopped, staying silent for a few minutes to compose herself. "How is it that you can justify what you did?" She asked.

"It was him or us." Jackson shrugged. "It may be cold, it may be wrong. But it is how I feel." He patted her shoulder. "Clare, we all know I'm not quite right in the head. I'm not expected to lead, not to care for us. You, sure, you should feel bad. But don't let it eat you alive." He said softly

"Jackson...thanks" Clare said patting his head. She stood up looking at the sky "I need to be alone for now, Jackson." Clare said.

"Do what you have to, Clare. You have like, ten hours." He said laughing "Just be careful, don't think about it too much." He walked back to his twin and Alexia.

"How is she?" Jeremy asked.

"She is...shaken." Jackson said "But who wouldn't be...well other than me." He muttered.

"She was _scary._" Alexia said softly "I don't like that side of Clare." She said after a few seconds, looking at her friends "Who thought she could do that?" She asked plaintively.

"Lexi, don't dwell on it please, for her sake as much as yours." Jeremy said, though he was thinking much the same as her.

"Lex, Bro, just leave her be. With any luck she will be better tommo..." Jackson trailed off. "Look at that" He said softly pointing down the highway. "It looks like...lights!" He said, awestruck.

Jeremy and Alexia turned, Jeremy just staring but Alexia gasped.

"Lights mean people..." She started.

"But what if they're bad people?" Jackson finished "My thoughts exactly. You two, get some sleep. That fight left me so wired I can run all night, tonight." He said setting up his rifle to cover the highway.

"Sleep well you two", he added as Jeremy killed the light.

"Night Jackson" Alexia said softly.

An hour or so later Jackson had gotten bored and was playing with a few bullets when he was amazed to hear Clare crying.

"Stay strong, Clare." He said softly.


	8. Remberance

Alexia groaned, ducking under a pipe that shuddered and groaned.

"Third time this week," she muttered, smacking at a valve. "Someone turn off the damn siren!"

An engineer nodded and ran off. Alexia counted the number of errors she saw and frowned.

"Well this pump is nearly done for. Damn." She studied the faulty valve downstream that had overstressed the pump. "At least this is the last one". She said softly then sighed in relief as the klaxon shut down. At least she could hear herself think now.

"That's all we can do, This pumping station is done for." She called out and one of the engineers frowned.

"There are only three stations left." He said in a half accusatory tone.

Alexia nodded. "I know that." She said standing up. "But this station's not going back online without spare parts we haven't got. I've done all I can here, I'm going home."

"Wait Alexia, I'll take you" One of the engineers said.

"Thanks." She said smiling as they left.

ooOoo

"Two inch spread at five hundred yards!" The spotter said as Jackson laughed.

"Damn I'm good!" he said looking through the scope. "Though I bet I can do better," He added with a grin as his spotter held out a bill.

"When will I learn to stop betting against you?" He asked laughing as Jackson took the money.

"I hope never, man!" He said. "Klaxon's gone quiet, ether Lexi fixed the water or we're in real trouble." He cocked his head. "Nope, no flood, guess we're good."

His spotter laughed again and got up.

"Jackson, sometimes you scare me, man." The spotter said as Jackson was nearly out the door.

As he left the range he saw a mob of people surrounding the Clinic his brother worked at.

"Bloody people. They're jacked enough as it is." He muttered. "Shoo! Go home!"

The mob took no notice at all.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," he said, firing his rifle in the air a few times. People screamed and scattered, thinking someone was shooting at them.

"You can thank me later, Bro." Jackson chuckled, heading in the direction of their shared house.

ooOoo

Jeremy was sitting in the lounge trying to block out the cries of the dozen or so people they couldn't treat. People who would die simply because they didn't have the supplies or room to treat them.

"So many people" He said softly. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally.

"Jeremy, we lost him," an orderly said sadly.

"The father?" He asked looking up and the orderly nodded.

So many had died in the last few months, sick from the food, the water, hell, even the air was killing them. Jeremy felt hollow, he had heard the words so many times they no longer moved him.

"Son, you can go home, there is nothing else we can do. We have to close down." The head doctor said. Jeremy felt a tear fall down his face as he nodded and stood up.

"Good bye, doctor," he said, hugging the man and walking out. As he walked away from the clinic the lights flickered and shut off.

"This damn Vault is killing us all," he muttered, opening the door to their house.

ooOoo

Clare sighed. From her vantage point on the roof she could see the whole vault city, from the Overseer's house to the glowing reactor in the center of the city.

"Bloody thing," she grumbled, watching the reactor flicker and sections of the city black out. The klaxon at one of the pumping stations died and Clare smiled.

"Good job Lexi!" She hopped through the window just as she heard a gunshot. "Oh Jackson, what have you done now?" She sighed and got ready for bed.

ooOoo

"Clare, time to wake up." Alexia said softly, shaking her larger friend.

Clare groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"My shift?" She asked tiredly seeing the sun was already up.

"Nope, Jackson took it. Said you looked like you needed the sleep," she replied.

"He didn't need to do that." Clare said, feeling a bit guilty.

"You're right, Clare, I didn't." Jackson said, walking up from the onramp. "But never mind that. There seems to be a town or something about two miles down the highway. Has a gate, and guards and everything." He turned to watch the road.

"Saw one of them pop a raider from nearly a thousand yards." He was smiling. "Guess we're going that way. If they don't like those bastards out here I like them already."

"They should be all right." Clare said standing up.

"I just hope they're friendly." Jeremy said, helping Clare to her feet. They all nodded in agreement and headed off down the highway


End file.
